SUMMERY:
This work consists of four books, each dealing with
the various adventures of Lemuel Gulliver:
BOOK 1: To sustain his
family, Lemuel Gulliver accepts to sail on the "Antilope"
as a ship's surgeon and he leaves Bristol
on the 4th May 1699. After six months, because of a storm, he lands
alone upon the shore of an island, that he discovers
to be called Lilliput, where he falls asleep. When he
wakes up he finds himself tied up and surrounded by the inhabitants of the
land, who are only six inches tall. They take him to the gates of the town,
where the emperor comes to visit him and commands to his servants to build a construction
where he can live and to bring him food and things necessaries for the whole
period of his stay. He orders also to a lot of wise men to teach him the
language of Lilliput, very different because it
hasn't got the Latin derivation, so he could understand and answer the
questions people asks him. When his command of the language allows him to be prepared
to converse, he goes to visit the emperor and the nobles, where he can discover
the amusements with which the court enjoys itself. Gulliver obtains the freedom
at some conditions, for example to help Lilliput in
case of war, and then he begins to speak with the secretary about the English and
the Lilliputian government. So he hears that there is an island, situated not
very far from there, called Blefuscu, which is in
contrast with Lilliput and is ready to attack it when
it would be a favourable wind. But Gulliver is able to anticipate it and with
his help the two islands begin to live in peace. With the passing of time
Gulliver learns to know the Lilliput culture: the
laws, the lifestyle, how is the education organized
But unfortunately one day it bursts a fire in the Queen's Palace and the
protagonist urinates on it to save the building; so the flames are extinguished
but the Queen is not very happy because of the method that Gulliver used, even
if it was effective. After this event, one of his friends informs him about a
conspiracy against him, founded above all on the system he used to rescue the
wife of the emperor. So he goes to Blefuscu where,
three days after his coming, he finds a boat, but he has got to repair it
before escaping to England
on the 24th September 1701.
BOOK2: The nature and the
destiny push Gulliver to sail for India on the "Avventura"
on the 20th June 1702. One day, after having sighted a land, a group
of sailors and the protagonist went there with a little sloop to explore the
coast. The seamen return immediately on the "Avventura",
leaving there Lemuel, because they saw a giant walking on the beach. He is one
of the natives of the island, called Brobdingnag, who
are about ten meters tall: so Gulliver can experience the same fears felt by
the inhabitants of Lilliput. There he tries to escape
in the fields, but a farmer finds him and takes him to his house, where the
protagonist meets his family, above all the daughter (called Glumdalclitch) , who is instructed to take care of him like
a nanny. After having built a comfortable house which can contain the little
man, to gain something the father shows the "Grildig"
(name given him because of his size) all over his village, and also in the
capital of Brobdingnag, where he sells him to the
Queen, who decides to accept also Glumdalclitch. When
he starts to speak the language of that land, after the teaching of his children's
nurse, he begins to engage the King with some explications about his world and
its government. Even if the husband of the Queen cannot understand all, above
all because the laws are very different and sometimes controversial, they
install a link of profound friendship and respect. But after two years, during
a journey on the coast of the island without Glumdalclitch,
an absent-minded page leaves him alone in his little house used for the travels
and, unluckily, a bird brings him believing he was a little animal good to eat.
But when he discovers his real nature, he drops him into the sea, where Gulliver
sails for a lot of days before that a sailor of a boat finds him. So, on the 3rd
June 1706 he arrives in Down, a little village near Redriff, where his family lives.
BOOK3: One of his friends,
the commander William Robinson, suggests Gulliver to sail with him as a ship's
surgeon during a travel to the Levant. So the
protagonist leaves his family for the umpteenth time and, on the 5th
August 1706, he goes up on the "Buona Speranza", name of the ship, which, after some days, is
attacked by the pirates who set him drift in a small boat. So he lands on a
flying island named Laputa, where the inhabitants are
very well-educated, above all in the fields of the astronomy, philosophy and
science, but so absent to require the help of the so-called "climenole", whose task is to hit his boss, a native of the
territory, when is his turn to hear or speak. He installs a friendship with the
King of Laputa who consents him to visit it and he
explains him how can it fly: under it there is a magnet, attacked thanks to a
huge diamond, that can move the island trough the use
of electromagnetic poles. Gulliver has got the permission to visit Lagado, the capital of Balnibarbi
(an island situated in the sea beneath Laputa in which there are a lot of academy whose purpose is to
discover new things that can help people to better live. Than the protagonist
goes away from the town to go to Maldonada where,
unfortunately, there are not ships ready to sail for Luggnagg,
a little island Gulliver supposes is located near the Japan, where he could find a boat intended for England. In the
mean time he decides to visit Glubbdubdrib, an islet
whose governor is able to invoke the spirits of dead men and women: so he
enjoys himself on seeing important people come back and speak with him. When he
comes back, he sails for Luggnagg, where he is received
by the king and the court; there he can meet the Struldbruggs,
immortal people very unhappy because their life is very boring and without
sense. Then he finds a ship prepare to sail for Japan and
from there to Amsterdam, where he takes a ship
to go to England,
where he arrives on the 10 April 1710.
BOOK4: Gulliver's last
voyage begins with the offer to command the "Avventura",
a big cargo boat intended to the Madagascar. An epidemic kills the
majority of his sailors, and so he is forced to engage a group of those who, after
some days, discovers to be delinquents. Consequently they mutiny themselves
and set him drift in a small boat, which
landed on an island inhabited by the Houyhnhnms,
horses well-educated and endow with reason, that rule over the Yahoos, very
similar to Gulliver and the human-beings, but bad treated because of their look
and behaviour, extremely full of fighting spirit, subsequently against the law
of that land. One of the native of the island welcomes the protagonist in his
house, introduces him his family, gives him food and begins to teach him the
language, with which Gulliver can speak about his world, the governments, the
inhabitants, the wars ( an unknown practice for the Houyhnhnms
), the position occupied by the horses
in his society, .But during a meeting between the inhabitants, it's discussed
the possibility to murder all the Yahoos and, consequently, Gulliver is forced,
reluctantly, to leave the island and to come back to England. He arrives there
on the 5th December 1715, but his life is completely changed: he
cannot live with the others human-beings because he considers them like
uncivilized people, without any mark of reason.
THE CHARACTERS:
Lemuel Gulliver is the protagonist of the novel and a ship's surgeon who
loves the adventure. This character is very determined to bring his travels to
conclusion, even if, sometimes, he finds himself in bad situations, for example
in the island of Brobdingnag, where, at
the beginning, he risks to be squashed by the inhabitants of the land or eaten
by the "giant" animals. Lemuel has got a predisposition for the languages: in
fact, after only some days, he is able to speak fluently with normal people and
important figures, like the courts of the places he visits. He is very
well-educated, above all about the politic of the English government, of which
he complains often, but in an implied manner: for this reason the author of the
book is considered a great satirist. Actually Lemuel explains to the kings the laws which rules the world and it is the other interlocutor
who moves criticisms against the administration and the politics, described
like liars. They believe also that the real legislator in Europe
are " the ignorance, the idleness and the vice ", and
the aspects that, perhaps, once were right, now, because of the corruption, are
unfair. To cover his complain against the government and, sometimes also
against the human-beings in general, he uses the excuse that he could not omit
the truth and he has got to be sincere.
Lilliputians: the inhabitants of Lilliput are
very similar to the humans, excepts for their size ( they
are six inches tall ). Above all in the behaviour they are like the Europeans:
in fact they are ready to make war with the land mass of Blefuscu
for a futile reason ( they do not break the eggs in
the same manner of the Lilliputians ) and they exploit everything for their
purpose: for example they give to Lemuel the freedom at the condition that he
helps them during the war against the other island. In conclusion they are very
busy, brave, astute but, especially, perfidious.
Blefuscudiani: the inhabitants of Blefuscu are
physically alike the Lilliputians, but they are more hospitable and friendly
than the population of the near island.
The giants of Brobdingnag: the people who
lives in Brobdingnag are similar to the humans,
excepts for their size ( they are ten meters tall ).
They are a society well organized, above all thanks to their king, a wise man
friendly and hospitable to Lemuel, as far as the dwarf who lives at the court,
very jealous of the success had by Gulliver, tries to kill him.
The farmer: when Gulliver arrives in Brobdingnag,
a farmer welcomes him in his house, proving to be a good and friendly person.
But, with the passing of time, he reveals himself to be an opportunist: in fact
he begins to take advantage of the Gulliver's difference, his height, and this
one of the features that characterize above all the
world where we live.
Glumdalclitch: she is the daughter of the farmer, but she is the
opposite of his father: she is very welcoming, gracious and pleasant. She takes
care of Gulliver since the first moment they meet each other: she teaches him
the language, she gives him food and she takes him wherever he wants.
Laputani: the inhabitants of Laputa
are very strange: they are well-educated, above all in the fields of the
astronomy, philosophy and science, but so absent to require the help of the
so-called "climenole", whose task is to hit his boss,
a native of the territory, when it is his turn to hear or speak. They exploit
the particularity of their land ( it is an island which can fly ) to subject to
them other people and territories, without having wars or revolutions because,
if the population rebels against the Laputani, they
drive their army ( their islet ) on the land they want to control and they threaten
to push it.
Struldbruggs: they are immortal people whose principal
characteristic, except for their endless life, is a little coloured mole on
their forehead, which changed with the passing of time (
until the age of twelve it is
red, after this period it is green, . ). But those strange people, even if they have got the possibility to live
forever, are not so happy at this perspective: in fact, when they are thirty
years old, they start to be melancholy and prostrate, sentiments that will rise
until the age of eighty. Then the Struldbruggs will
live forever with the normal illnesses of the common mortals and with the
incapacity to establish lasting links of friendship and to love someone else
except for their sons and grandsons. Their only passions are the envy for the
mortal people and the desire to die; and what's more, after some years, they
start to lost their memory and to forget all their preceding parts of life .
Houyhnhnms: they are not human-beings like the other characters
of the book; for this reason, in this part, it is underlined the incapacity of
the men to live in peace, without any bad sentiments ( for
example of rage, vengeance, . ), and it is also said, in an implicit manner,
that we have not got any reason because with it we would not do wars or
terrible actions. But the Houyhnhnms too, they can prove a feeling of
disgust against the Yahoo, animals alike to the human-beings and to Gulliver.
After some days Lemuel learn to behave like them, and also to think similar to
the inhabitants of that land; in fact he starts to sense repugnance for
himself, above all when he looks at him in front of the mirror.
COMMENTARY:
It is the first time I read the "
Gulliver's Travels " even if it is a very famous book, and now I can
understand why it is so popular and beloved by a lot of people. I like a lot
this roman, except for the first part, when the protagonist goes to Lilliput, perhaps because the Lilliputians are very similar
to me and to the world I know. In fact I think that a book is a way to take
refuge in, above all from the humanity which, sometimes, can behave in a so bad
manner that I would like not to be a part of it. The only teaching that anyone
could find in this division of the book and also in the travel to Brobdignag it is that sometimes you can be very powerful,
but there is always someone who has got more authority than you. The land I like
better is Laputa because I believe that the author
used a lot of imagination writing it: the explication about his particularity (
the island can fly ) is very detailed, for example the movements gave from the
magnetic poles, or the diamonds which stands beneath it, but also the
description of the population and of his ability in the fields of the science,
the astronomy and the mathematics, above all testified by the academies
situated in the capital, even if the experiments, like the citizens, are very
strange. The lot of description of the places where he goes, even if they are
full of particulars, are not boring, but it is exciting to read about other
cultures very different form our. The character I prefer is Glumdalclitch:
in fact her personality can prove that, even if the world where they live is
populated by bad inhabitants, the children are always the same, they are always
innocent, friendly and affectionate also with people very different from them.
It was really interesting too to discover how Jonathan Swift could hide his
criticisms against the world in the dialogues between the protagonist, who
represents him, and the people of the other unknown territories, who said him
things he could not omit to save the truth of the whole history. In conclusion,
I like a lot the " Gulliver's Travels ".
